


The Squirrel's Secret

by momopichu



Series: A Dæmon's Tale [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Dæmon, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Army, Capture the Flag, Competitive, M/M, Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 07:37:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9311801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momopichu/pseuds/momopichu
Summary: Gabriel's pretty crazy. But so is Jack.Sequel to A Kitten's Friend.





	1. Havaita

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to point out that the omnic war has been on-going whilst all of them are sitting in the SEP.  
> I hope the chapter's alright. I had an existential crisis the other day and started asking myself 'how do I write'?

Word spread around the base fast. Much like a wildfire through a forest, Jack and Tadashi soon found themselves at the centre of gossip and rumours. It was already an outright shock that a cat dæmon would willingly protect another, but it was even more surprising that Tadashi would pick up Vaeltaja. Many speculated that there was something of a romantic-nature between the two men whilst others argued that it was only a relationship of blood brothers. Either way, neither could enter a room without stares and whispers accompanying them about.

“Does it bother you?” Tadashi asked one day.

They were hiding out in the shooting range after a particularly nasty session of injections. Huddled under one of the many tables that lined the room, they were tucked away from sight and the spot they had chosen would allow them to hear anyone coming before they could be snuck up on. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to socialise or that the dorms were uncomfortable, but after Reyes had caught them play-fighting and with the increase of wild stories floating around, they had agreed it was safer to just go somewhere else.

“A little? I guess?” Jack replied, voice hoarse. “I don’t know… what about you?”

The latest bout of injections had had him screaming on the table, burning hot, then cold under his veins, making him thrash against the bindings that kept him strapped to the hard surface - it probably didn’t help that his previous injury was still healing too, rubbing the scar and chafing his skin. Absentmindedly, he brushed a hand over his stomach where the claw-marks left by Martinez’s panther were. Vaeltaja looked much the same, sporting bright pink scars along his belly and tufts of new fur growth, his usually groomed pelt sticking up at odd angles.

“They can talk all they want,” Tadashi growled “I tell myself they don’t know anything about us.”

Jack nodded agreement, leaning back against a table leg. Dimly he wondered if he should tell Tadashi about what had transpired that same night, after he had returned to his rooms, a thick bandage wrapped around his injuries and Vaeltaja hobbling beside him, nursing a leg tied up in a cast. His partner, Gabriel Reyes had been waiting for him, one steaming cup of ginger tea in his hand as he sat reading on a bunk and another cup placed on the room’s only table. When asked who the tea was for, the dark man had looked at him like he was an escapee from an asylum before growling that the cup was for ‘a certain blond who didn’t know how to keep his heroics under a belt’ before turning over and going to sleep. Jack had blinked and pointed out that Reyes was lying on _his_ bunk - the top bunk.

_“Pendejo!” He had barked. “I would like to see you climb up here with that kind of injury! Now take your damn tea and go to sleep, you’re not excused from tomorrow’s training.”_

Trying not to stare at his partner's back, a quick glance confirmed Jack's suspicions when he spotted Estrella buried under a pile of Reyes’s shirts - if the man was trying to hide his feelings, he couldn't have done it better than to get his dæmon to stay out of sight while he did all the talking. Finally shrugging, he had taken his tea and gotten into the bottom bunk. As an afterthought, he prodded the mattress just above his head.

_“Thanks Capt.”_

A click shook him from his thoughts. Beside him he could feel Tadashi tense up, Hikari, gripping onto her human’s arm had her tail fluffed up to twice its usual size. Vaeltaja’s ears swivelled forward, pricked and straining to listen. Through his dæmon, Jack was able to pick up the sound of the range’s door sliding open and two sets of boots moving into the room.

“At ease you two, it’s just us!” A voice called.

Quick wing flaps and a constant clicking accompanied the two individuals as they found Tadashi and Jack’s hiding spot before kneeling down till all of them were of eye level. The tension bled from Tadashi’s shoulders and Jack heaved a sigh of relief.

“Owen, Neumann,” he greeted.

Coming from straight out of basic, Taylor Owen was clean-shaven and still soft around the edges. His rectangular, black-rimmed spectacles were pushed high on his nose, his smooth skin, a deep chestnut brown gleamed with the room’s light before the man squeezed in with them under the table, taking up a place beside Tadashi. His dæmon, a female grey long-eared bat fluttered about before settling on the edge of the table, hanging upside down with small hooked claws as was common of her species.

Samantha Neumann was much the same, coming from basic, she had her brunette hair tied back in a tight bun, storm grey eyes peeked out from a dainty face with high-cheekbones. She was stiffer than Owen and all elbows and knees as she too tucked herself under the table beside Jack, the blond shifting over to grant the woman more room to make herself comfortable. Her dæmon was nowhere to be seen, but it didn’t bother her three friends.

Cat dæmons weren’t the only ones on this base that unsettled people.

“Avoiding the masses?” Owen asked cheekily.

“Only you can make them sound appealing,” Tadashi groaned, rubbing his face with a tired hand.

Neumann snorted. “You should’ve seen him just now. Someone from our batch started up some shit about you two fraternising and Owen here had Havaita drop soggy tea-bags on them.”

Jack quirked an eyebrow at the dark man and his bat dæmon - Havaita. “And where did you get soggy tea-bags?”

“Where else?” Owen replied, shrugging his shoulders - not at all guilty faced. “From the trash. I would’ve preferred dropping mealworms or something - makes people _really_ squeal - but I doubt the higher-ups would let me out to scrounge for insects.”

Jack rolled his eyes. Not for the first time he wondered how Owen had gotten into the military with a bat dæmon. Yes, the flying mammals had an unparalleled sense of hearing which made them ideal for reconnaissance and stealth missions but they were also extremely social beings… and were highly prone to pranking. When they had first met, Owen had entertained them all with stories of how he and Havaita would leave worms in people’s beds, subtly litter an area to get someone in trouble and even occasionally, trigger the night watch’s alarm where he had basic. _Just for giggles_ , he had said. It was a wonder he didn’t get caught.

“Only _you_ would think about digging for worms right now,” the blond groaned, indicating the state they were all in.

“Gotta get my kicks somewhere,” Owen shot back.

“ _Or_ you could start talking to that lady from the second batch who you keep wooing with paper flowers in her room and get a _real_ kick,” Tadashi said.

“Who told y--” Owen started before whirling to glare at Neumann.

“You were hardly subtle about it!” The brunette snickered under a slender hand. Grey eyes crinkled at the edges as she tried not to laugh at Owen’s death-glare. “Anyway didn’t we come all the way here because _someone_ heard something interesting?”

“What’s up?” Jack asked, adjusting himself into a better position. Vaeltaja, arranged about his ankles had his head up and ears perked in interest despite the burning sense of the serum still beating about within their veins. Even Tadashi was leaning forward, Hikari who had adjusted herself so that she now sat in her human’s palm was alert, small paws dangling before her white belly.

Owen shot Neumann a final glare before turning to the other two. “I overheard my partner, Martin talking with hers --” he flicked a hand at the brunette “-- Major Garza was it? Anyway they said it’s about time they put us in _real_ simulation tests. Something about not wanting us ‘green’ when we head out onto the field.”

“Real simulations?” Tadashi asked. “We’ve been having those against test bots for weeks now.”

Other than the usual injections and body checkups, training sessions and simulation tests were commonplace in the SEP. It allowed recruits to acclimatise to their constantly changing bodies and helped them maintain their edge whilst being so far from the front lines. More often than not, the higher-ups would put them into teams of four and release them into a simulation room to fight test bots. The room would shift constantly, adjusting to the needs and requirements of the higher-ups to create a setting that would imitate the real world while also providing a challenge for the soldiers. It was like a maze with a mind of it’s own, moving walls and disappearing streets overlaid with holographic projections to make the simulation more akin to real life. Soldiers had to react quickly if a road would suddenly be closed off or a building would suddenly rise from under their feet - all the while trying not to get hit by test bots.

“No, no. Not against test bots,” Owen replied, shaking his hands in the air as if Tadashi had misunderstood him terribly. “They want us to fight something real, something--”

“They’re bringing in omnics!?” Jack exclaimed.

Owen kicked him hard in the shin for his interruption. The blond squeaked, barely stopping himself from bashing his head up against the table just an inch above his golden hair. Drawing his legs closer to his chest, he rubbed indignantly at the quickly bruising spot. 

“The higher-ups aren’t stupid to bring omnics here Jackie. _God_.” Owen huffed, Havaita still clinging to the table edge flapped her wings in equal exasperation. “No, they want us to start fighting other soldiers, more specifically those that have real experience on the battlefield.”

“So… they’re pitching us fourth batches against the first, second and third batches?” Tadashi asked.

“Well, only the second and third batches,” Neumann cut in “You know very well Hahn of the first batch won’t go anywhere without Zhang and Zhang is still under mandatory supervision after his last stunt.”

“As is Martinez.” Tadashi pointed out.

Everyone hummed agreement. After Martinez and Felipe had nearly clawed the life out of Jack and Vael, the SEP had put the woman under supervision as well. Apparently the ‘supervision’ only involved a ‘curfew’, a ‘talk’ and an additional ‘volunteer’ to keep an eye out in case the subject did something crazy again. All in all, it just seemed like a parent trying to keep tabs on an unruly teenager. Not very effective - if the looks Martinez had been throwing Jack and Tadashi was any indication.

“Anyway, what Owen and I want to know is if you two wanted to team up?” Neumann continued.

“I thought they decide the teams for us,” Jack groaned, still rubbing his abused shin. Vaeltaja readjusted himself to wrap more tightly about his human’s ankles before stretching out to lick the discoloured bruise on his shin, sandpaper-like tongue rough against his skin.

“Not this time,” Owen said. “Garza said they’ll let the recruits decide. Something about wanting us to go all out this time. No holding back.”

Tadashi quirked a brow. “Who will we be up against?”

“Our partners.”

Jack and Tadashi exchanged looks. If they agreed, they would be going up against Major Garza, Captain Reyes and First Lieutenants Martin and Bose. Not only would they be outranked, they would be outskilled. Everyone - even the newest recruits - knew about Garza’s legendary strength and her honey badger dæmon. Jack’s own partner, Reyes was also recognised, not just for having an owl dæmon, but for his skills in more… unorthodox missions. There was no question who the clear losers would be.

“Count us in.” Tadashi announced.

 

* * *

 

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at the document in his lap. Sitting opposite him, Bose outright huffed before tossing hers onto the table. Martin and Garza were more composed but the former had his brows drawn into a frown as he scrutinised his own holopad. The four of them were sat in the empty cafeteria around a table whilst their partners were God-knows-where. Gabriel had had his first suspicions aroused when he had spotted Jack disappearing after their morning training session, a quick circuit to Tadashi’s room and then a brief talk with the man's partner, Bose, had established that the two recruits had vanished like mist in the morning sun. A walk around the block and a ‘coincidental’ bump with Garza and Martin later had cleared things up. Sort of.

Apparently the higher-ups had finally cleared the fourth batch for Advanced Training and they were to begin as soon as tomorrow. Advance Training was just another fancy term of saying that the recruits had reached a more-or-less stable stage in their injections and were finally allowed to begin the _real_ work. The training would include pitching them against stronger soldiers in the SEP to help build their fighting experience and develop more strategy-based thinking methods. Recruits were required to form teams of four and in these teams work their way through objective-oriented games against their partners in the simulation rooms. The announcement had been made just that same morning and whilst other teams were just beginning to form, Garza’s own partner - Neumann - had approached her with a battle-ready team.

Led by First Lieutenant Tadashi, the recruit’s team would include Second Lieutenant Morrison, Rookies Owen and Neumann, and their dæmons.

“They knew about the advanced training even before the announcement,” Gabriel sighed. Estrella, perched on her usual place on his shoulder beat her wings once, not at all happy.

“Yeah, but how did they know?” Bose interjected. Her wolf dæmon paced the space between their chairs, hackles raised and lips pulled back in a snarl. “ _We_ didn’t even find out until right before lunch!”

“That might have been our fault,” Martin groaned, rubbing his forehead. Turning to address Gabriel and Bose’s questioning looks, he continued, his german shepherd dæmon looking guiltily at her paws, “Owen - my partner - has a bat dæmon. Garza and I were talking about the Advance Training schedule just two days ago after their latest injections. He must have overheard our conversation and brought your partners into the loop.”

“Meaning that they’ve known about this for a grand total of three days.” Garza’s voice was unconcerned.

As the appointed leader of their team, she would command _and_ plan their training sessions. Like Gabriel, Garza had come from the US marines - but that was where the similarities ended. The woman was older than any of them and had served longer, she was a soldier through and through and had the highest omnic kill-count of anyone inducted into the SEP. She had told them she was brought into the program late because she had been too busy killing those tin-cans on the front lines - and Gabriel was willing to believe her. After all, honey badgers were known for their strength… and stubbornness.

“Their first ‘mission’ is tomorrow,” Garza continued “If they’ve been using their time wisely, that’s three days to prepare for it. Not that they know what they’re preparing for.”

“And what exactly is the mission?” Gabriel asked.

He himself had not served as long but had racked up his own kill-count through different means. Ever since his induction into the marines, he had been singled out. If asked why, he would have said it was because of his dæmon. Other than being a bird-of-prey, she was a night hunter. Stealth, strength, brains and a whole host of other factors such as enhanced sight and silent flight… it all made Estrella and her human perfect for spec op missions.

“Capture the flag,” Garza stated. “We’ll be in Simulation room 8, the ‘setting’ will be set to ‘ruined city’ and won't change throughout the simulation.”

“Any special conditions we need to know about?” Bose asked. Dark caramel skin and jet-black hair, she was a slender figure that had begun to pick up bulk ever since her induction into the SEP. Although not as strong as her teammates, she was as quick as her wolf dæmon and a reliable team-player.

“Everyone gets to pick their own weapons instead of using the standard issue rifles,” Garza said, flicking through her holopad. “We have limited ammo meaning we’ll have to scavenge if we run out.” she grinned, baring pearly teeth “This also means we get to be more creative with how we deal with our partners.”

“Wouldn’t want them to think any less of us now, would we?” Martin chuckled. Pale of skin and with bright ginger hair, he was muscular although not as much as Gabriel. The german shepherd dæmon at his feet eagerly thumped her tail against the floor at the prospect of bullying the recruits.

“Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves,” Gabriel cautioned. “What do we know about our partners anyway?”

“Yamaguchi has a squirrel dæmon and is proficient in hand-to-hand combat, we saw that in the fight with Martinez,” Bose started “He’s a good leader and he works well with Morrison - of all people.” She finished with a nod in Gabriel’s direction.

“Which also means he’s vulnerable without blondie,” Gabriel muttered. “Vaeltaja - Morrison’s cheetah dæmon - is fast but fragile, if we can take him out early, we take out Yamaguchi as well.”

It felt like there was a lump in his throat. Swallowing quickly, he smothered the sense of guilt threatening to overwhelm him. Ever since the deathmatch with Martinez, he had taken to watching his partner more. He told himself it was to make sure his partner recovered alright but deep down he knew, he knew he was doing more than just watching. No doubt it was heavily influenced by the sight of the blond and the feline dæmon lying still on the training mat, their joined blood weaving through the threaded material. A sight he had not been able to get out of his head on most nights, even with his partner snoring softly below him. Picking up on his thoughts, Estrella gently bumped her feathered head against his ears in comfort. They weren’t going to _hurt_ Jack. They weren’t Martinez, they weren’t Felipe. This was a training session with stun rounds and a controlled environment. Everything was going to be fine.

“Any ideas about their weapon choice?” Garza asked.

“Not at the moment,” Bose grunted. “Their files left out that little fact the first time we received them.” Gabriel nodded in agreement.

“Owen prefers assault rifles,” Martin interjected with a raised hand. “Like I said before, he has a bat dæmon, sharp of ears and loves playing pranks.”

“Pranks?” Garza asked.

“Well, sort of. You know the paper flowers Nat’s been receiving?” He asked, everyone nodded. “Owen’s the one that’s been sending them. He gets Havaita to fly in, drop the flowers and fly out while he keeps watch outside. Bat’s fly _fast_ and with that echolocation, he’ll know where we all are before we’ve even made our move.”

“Another problem to consider then,” Bose grumbled, jerking her head at Garza she asked “What about Neumann?”

“Trained in pistol marksmanship.” Garza grunted, fiddling with a wayward strand of hair.

“A gunslinger.” Gabriel growled. Something about the profession did not sit right with him.

“She won’t be a problem,” Garza reassured him, grinning. “She and her dæmon will be easily handled.”

 

* * *

 

Unnoticed by the four people sat in the empty cafeteria, a thin form retreated back into the air vent, scaly body curling on himself before turning back in the direction he had come. He had heard more than enough and it was time to return to the others.

Forked tongue flicking in and out, he slithered his way through the tight space, weaving past metal grills and squeezing around tight corners. Soon enough, he scented his human and slithered quickly into her waiting palm and up her arm. Poking his small head out from the neckline of his human’s shirt, he fixed small amber eyes on his human’s friends and their dæmons and nodded a greeting.

“No retreat?” Neumann asked, stroking the length of her dæmon's body.

“No surrender.” Jack, Tadashi and Owen declared.

 


	2. Streich

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've extended this piece to three chapters as I feel it needs to be longer.  
> P.S. It'll be awhile before I update with the final chapter I feel - as I want to take part in R76 week which starts tomorrow. If you guys want to message me, you can find me at momopichu.tumblr.com either send me a pm or an ask :)

“Alright soldiers, listen up!” Garza yelled, the four recruits assembled before her stood stock still, rigidly straight with their hands clasped behind their backs. “Today we’ll be playing capture-the-flag. When the first bell tolls you have five minutes to gather your weapons and/or gear of your choice from the stands --” she pointed over to a table pushed up against the wall, guns were displayed neatly across its smooth surface while bags of ammunition and other items were hung up on hooks above the table “-- your flag --” She waved a blue piece of cloth in her hand “-- and hide said flag somewhere in the simulation. After the second bell tolls, you can no longer return to change your weapons and you  _ cannot _ move your flag.”

She moved her gaze steadily over each recruit, eyeing them with a piercing gaze to make she they had understood.

“At the same time, the games will have started,” Garza continued “So if you aren’t in position once the second bell tolls, I hope you’re ready to get shot!”

“Ma’am! Question!” Tadashi yelled.

“Go.”

“What ammunition will we be using?”

“Stun rounds,” Garza stated. “They’ve been modified to completely knock out a player - provided a good shot is landed. Meaning if you nick someone in the leg, they’ll feel a prickle, but they won’t go down. Be warned! You have limited ammo in today’s simulations, so make your shots count. Once you’re knocked out, well… you can’t play if you’re asleep.” The large woman chuckled “Anymore questions?”

The four recruits remained silent.

“Alright…”

Behind her, Gabriel bashed his fist against the big black button arranged in the simulation room’s control panel. The first bell tolled, a deep thundering sound that vibrated throughout the entire room.

“Scat.”

 

* * *

 

Gabriel adjusted the belt around his waist, tying his extra ammo more firmly around the leather piece. He would be using his trademark duo shotguns today, although great at close range, he would be at a disadvantage at range or once he ran out of ammo. Gently - reverently - he slid his gloved hands along the sides of his weapon, the chrome plated surface was smooth under his touch, a grounding weight. Estrella, perched on the edge of the table, watched with wide unblinking eyes, her feathered chest rising and falling calmly with each flick of his fingers across his guns. 

Four rounds in each gun, two guns means eight rounds, and he had enough bullets for one reload, he counted in his head. Sixteen shots in total against four recruits, not taking into consideration the other’s weapons, it was more than enough for today’s games.

“Gabi.”

Gabriel looked up. Garza had a large machine gun strapped to her back, an engineer’s kit tied around her waist. Fuerza at her feet was making chuffing noises and eagerly scratching the ground with long taloned paws. The woman was a heavy weapons specialist, in a real fight, she would have grenades instead of the kit but everyone had agreed explosives were just a tad bit overpowered without some kind of limitation - meaning she would have to scavenge for supplies within the simulation and craft if she wanted to use heavy fire power. Not that it would matter. Gabriel had seen just what the woman could do with her large machine gun, he didn’t want to be in the recruits’ shoes if and when she finally gets ahold of explosives.

“You ready?” She asked, jerking her head in the direction of the simulation.

“Yeah,” Gabriel grunted, strapping his shotguns to his waist. Estrella flapped her wings, launching herself into the air to fly above his head in slow, predatory circles. “Ready.”

Garza nodded her head once and led the way into the simulation.

The simulation room had been set up, the holographic projection that overlaid the entire scene was a true depiction of a war-torn city. Crumbling houses, cracked and punctured cement walls, shattered windows and angled pieces of metal wires poking out of broken walls and stones. All-in-all, it was pretty convincing down to the wafting sand and dust floating in the air. If Gabriel hadn’t known it was a simulation room, he might have been convinced he had been teleported to another typical war-ravaged city.

Bose and Martin were waiting for them just beside a crumbling building, the latter holding a red piece of cloth in his hands and a sniper rifle in the other, while the former had a modified pulse rifle. Their canine dæmons were pacing the ground, throwing up dust clouds and coating their fur with a generous amount of grit. At the sight of Garza and Gabriel, both dæmons stopped pacing to stand rigidly, ears pricked forward and tails erect - the very picture of dogs waiting for orders.

“We’ve scouted this area of the simulation,” Martin started “We have numerous high ground positions on our side and a good number of places where we can hide our flag.”

“Good,” Garza grunted “Did you find a hiding spot that would be hard to reach?”

“There’s a church half a klick from our current position,” Bose said “The second floor is pretty much unreachable unless they can climb vertically, have help from each other, or can fly.” She said the last with a grin in Gabriel’s direction.

“Got it,” Gabriel chuckled, stretching out a hand to take the flag from Martin. The other man pushed the bolt of cloth into his waiting palm without hesitation. “I’ll hide the flag and group up with you guys.”

“Roger,” Garza stated “Comm check?”

“Affirmative.”

“I read you.”

“Loud and clear.”

Garza nodded before unholstering her machine gun, weighing the large weapon in her gloved hands “Alright, move out.”

Not for the first time Gabriel couldn’t help but be amazed at how his body carried him over the dusty street without breaking a sweat, Estrella keeping pace above his head. Whatever the SEP was pumping into them was doing it’s work, he was no longer the thin, stick-like kid who came from downtown LA, he wasn’t even the headstrong muscular captain of the Marines. He was Gabriel Reyes, super soldier of the SEP, his legs eating up the distance until the church Bose had described came within sight. Squeezing in through the narrow gap left by the church’s slanting doors, he took a moment to orient himself. He was standing in the nave, usually filled with benches for the people, it was now mostly empty. Small plants - put in place by the simulation’s holographic projector - creeped along the walls of the broken down church, bobbing their green heads in the stillness.

Looking up, he saw that a hole had been torn into the second floor of the church, to the side, a cave-in had blocked off a set of stone stairs. A final glance around the interior confirmed Bose’s words; without the stairs, unless someone boosted him up or if he could climb vertical walls, he wouldn’t be reaching the second floor. Well, not like he needed to do either.

Estrella landed gently on her human’s shoulders, hissing a greeting. Gabriel held up the flag in his gloved hands. The piece of cloth was truly nothing special, dyed a vibrant red, it was frayed at the edges from overuse in many simulations before. Nevertheless, if the enemy team got ahold of it, the game would be over and they would lose.

“Think you can find a good spot to hide this thing?” Gabriel asked.

“Stand on the altar and reach up as far as you can,” Estrella hissed back. “I’ll see what I can do.”

With that, she lightly took hold of the cloth within her talons and fluttered upwards, her wings sending fresh dust scattering left and right. Gabriel silently obeyed his dæmon’s words, finding the altar she had indicated and standing atop it before stretching his body upwards. 

‘Pulling’ would always be a painful experience; the act of stretching the bond between a human and dæmon was risky and with enough distance, could result in death. However, at some point in everyone’s life, they had all at least tried to see how far away one could ‘pull’ from their dæmons. For Gabriel, the last time he had seriously tried ‘pulling’ was when he was but a boy. Back then, Estrella had not settled into her owl form and had instead taken the form of a badger for the experiment. Sinking tough claws into the soft earth, they had managed a maximum length of three meters before they had given up, Estrella reverting back to her favourite bird form and diving back into Gabriel’s aching chest.

He remembered the pain that accompanied the experiment clearly and he gritted his teeth now as he felt the first tell-tale tugs at his heart as Estrella pulled on their bond. The owl dæmon was roughly two meters away now, going on three as she flapped her wings hard by the edges of the second floor hole. Through her eyes, Gabriel saw that the second floor was filled with broken cupboards, toppled candelabras and other items required in churches, all scattered about the wooden floor. Quickly, Estrella tucked the bolt of red cloth under the foot of a cupboard, the slight increase in distance sending a fresh wave of pain coursing from Gabriel’s heart before the owl dæmon was dropping down, mottled wings flapping hard to slow her descent, before crashing into Gabriel’s outstretched arms.

For a moment, he held his owl dæmon close to his chest, burying his nose in the soft, feathered head. The pain was receding with the contact - not that it made the ordeal any easier to suffer through. Finally heaving a sigh, he patted Estrella once before releasing her into the air. The owl dæmon hovered for a moment before finding her bearings and reverted to flying slow circles above his head, keeping a carefully close distance with her human - she did not want to repeat the pulling process any more than necessary. That done, he tapped the comm chip attached to his ear.

“Reyes to Red Team,” He growled. “Do you copy?”

“Garza here.” Her voice was staticked, bristling through the comm. “What’s your status, over.”

“The flag is secure. Over.”

“Roger. Bose and I are North West of your position, meet up with us ASAP. Martin’s already in position. We’ve got one minute until the bell tolls.”

“Understood, I’m on my way. Over and out.”

With Estrella flying above his head, Gabriel made his way out of the church and hurried to group up with his team.

 

* * *

 

“Positions?”

“In place.”

“Same here.”

“Good. Remember, we have one chance to pull this off. Let’s not muck this up.”

“No retreat?”

“No surrender.”

 

* * *

 

The second bell tolled, loud, echoing in the confines of the simulation room, bouncing off the walls of the setting and through the empty streets. Instinctively, Gabriel braced his back against the ruins he had flattened himself against. Garza and Fuerza froze from where they were tucked under an overhanging slab of cement - what was once a ceiling. Bose hefted her rifle close to her chest as her wolf dæmon quietly sniffed the air.

“Area clear.” Martin sounded over the comm.

Garza tapped a finger to her ear. “Understood, we’re moving out. Bose, take point.”

The dark haired woman nodded once before shifting along the wall, with military precision, she swung her rifle up as she checked her corners before moving onto the street, her wolf dæmon following closely by her heels, soft paws barely making a sound as they padded across the dusty floor. Gabriel followed next, his shotguns raised and at the ready, Estrella was silent as she took off from her camouflaged perch on a wall, dropping down to flutter above the trio. Garza took up the rear, muscles bunching under the weight of the machine gun in her hands.

With practised grace, the group moved through the streets towards the opposite end of the simulation where the other team had no doubt set up shop. With Martin sweeping the streets from his sniper perch back behind their lines, they eased their way into enemy territory. All was quiet.

Too quiet, if Gabriel was any judge. 

Internally, his mind was racing through all the intel they had managed to scrape together from their partner’s files and their strategic meeting the day before. Not for the first time, he felt a sense of unease regarding the blue team.

It was said that every dæmon in the military had a purpose. From bears to sloths, the military tailored their program so that each soldier and their dæmon would be able to work to their strengths. A man with a bear dæmon would be well equipped to operating heavy weaponry whilst an individual with a sloth dæmon might be better suited for long stake-outs and sniper positions.

Gabriel’s team had all readily agreed that Owen and his dæmon Havaita - the bat - had to be taken out early on. His echolocation ability would be too much of a handicap for them and with that done, the others would be easily handled. Jack’s dæmon, Vaeltaja was the strongest from their side but was fragile in comparison to what the red team had, with the right maneuver, he could be easily overpowered. With blondie down, Tadashi would no doubt follow. But that left Neumann…

And that woman had a snake dæmon. A black mamba to be more precise.

The serpent dæmon - like its animal counterparts - was small, greyish in colour but extremely dangerous if provoked. Highly sensitive to smell and vibrations in the ground, they were slippery creatures and great at ambushes. Coupled with the fact that Neumann was a trained gunslinger, she was definitely a threat if the red team was unprepared. Garza had assured them that she would personally handle the marksman when it came down to it, after all, honey badgers were pretty much immune to snake bites. Gabriel knew he shouldn’t judge a person by their dæmon, not after seeing what Jack could do, but one could not erase a lifetime’s worth of stories stating that humans with snake dæmons were known for their tricks and subterfuge.

Outside the military, very few people trusted individuals with snake dæmons and hence many of them were shunned or turned towards darker paths due to their dæmon’s choice. Even when he was a boy in LA, he was taught never to approach strangers -  _ especially _ if you could not see their dæmons. A barely hidden snake was probably the last thing you wanted to see being led down a dark street.

“I’ve got eyes on hostiles.” Martin’s voice cut through Gabriel’s darkening thoughts, jerking him back to the present.

“Yamaguchi and Owen,” Martin continued. “They’re taking the underpass South of your position.”

“Roger,” Garza affirmed, even behind deep brown eyes Gabriel could see the cogs ticking in her mind as she trampled through possible scenarios. “Any other hostiles? Over.”

“None that I can see.”

“Any dead-end streets?”

“They’re coming up towards two but you have to hurry if you want to push them into it.”

“Understood.” Garza darted a quick glance to Bose and Gabriel “Move out, we box them into a dead end and take out the both of them.”

“Garza--” Gabriel started.

“Owen’s a high-priority target, we can’t let him get away.” Garza growled. Fuerza was growling lowly in his throat, jet-black talons raking up deep valleys in the ground.

Gabriel swallowed before nodding, Estrella flapped her wings uncomfortably at the sight of the angry honey-badger. “Understood.”

Without another word, Garza and her dæmon shoved past Gabriel, making for the exit. Bose shot him a sympathetic look before following. He brought up the rear.

 

* * *

 

“They’re coming…” Owen’s voice was shaky, high pitched with...panic? Anticipation?

Havaita fluttered above their heads, her distinct chittering echoing through the ruins. It was through her that Owen could ‘see’ the three soldiers of red team split up, their image painted by the shuffling of fabric against skin, by metal and plastic clinking against each other, by the static hum of comms in their ears. He could distinctly make out Garza, her steps and those of her honey-badger were loud, heavy, someone carrying too much from the way her breath puffed in the silent street. Bose was lighter, despite her attempt at stealth, her wolf dæmon’s claws were making barely audible clicking noises where it clashed with the floor, enough for Havaita to pinpoint her location. Finally Reyes, with Estrella barely flapping her wings, they were the hardest to detect and only the nearly unnoticeable hum of the comm in his ear was giving away his position. 

“5, no 4 meters now.” He gasped, trying to keep pace with Tadashi.

“Shit.” The other man panted. “Come on, just a bit furth--”

 

* * *

 

Martin fired the first shot, his sniper rifle jerking in his grip. Through the lens of his scope he could see the shot had missed, just clipping the side of Yamaguchi’s arm, making the man recoil from the shock the stun round sent up his arm. With practised ease, he reloaded his gun, ejecting the smoking bullet shell from the chamber of the rifle. He sighed, the miss was to be expected with how far behind inside red territory he was.

Garza had instructed that he stay within their territory so as to better see the stage while providing defence for their flag. That being said, the further his team moved away from him, the less likely he was going to land a shot. According to Garza, it didn’t matter because the ground team would take care of it. 

It still hurt his pride that he missed.

 

* * *

 

Gabriel rounded the corner just as Martin’s first shot made contact. Despite what people thought of him, Gabriel wasn’t one for finesse. He had limited ammo and by  _ hell _ , he was going to get the job done. Bringing up his shotguns, he clipped the trigger without hesitation, unloading the full load of stun rounds into Tadashi’s chest. The man fell immediately, knocked out by the shock of the modified bullets. Owen had a moment to gape at his fallen partner before darting sideways into an abandoned shop, barely avoiding two more rounds of Gabriel’s shotguns.

Gabriel growled deep in his throat before following in hot pursuit. Estrella streaked ahead. In her eyes, the dark grimy shop was lit up as if by the afternoon sun, every detail laid bare for the owl’s scrutiny. The deafening bang of a door drew his eyes to the back of the shop where a door was hanging ajar, swinging on a single hinge from where Owen had ripped through in an attempt to escape.

“Owen’s gone out the back!” He snarled into his comms before vaulting over the counter and out the door, shotguns swinging perilously from his hands.

Legs pumping hard, he burst into the street behind the shop to see Owen disappearing around the corner at the other end, his bat dæmon flapping after him frantically. A hail of bullets followed his departure, rattling and echoing off the walls of the buildings before falling silent.

“Target down.” Garza announced on the comms before stepping over the recruit’s paralysed body and around the corner, Bose close behind her.

Gabriel grunted his thanks, twisting to wipe the sweat from his face on a shoulder.

“That’s two down,” He growled “Just Neumann and Morrison now.”

“I thought we were capturing the flag, not outright decimating the recruits.” Bose ventured with a quirked brow, her wolf dæmon cocked his bold head to the side as if equally questioning.

“Don’t worry, we’re still capturing the flag,” Garza assured her, adjusting her grip on her machine gun, the muzzle of the weapon still smoking. “After we teach our partners a lesson.” She said the last with a toothy grin mimicked by the black and white dæmon by her feet.

Gabriel snorted. Something still didn’t feel right.

Sure, Tadashi and Owen had tried their best to avoid them, the latter’s echolocation actually making it harder for Gabriel’s team to trap them. But it felt...different, in a way -  _ wrong _ . Tadashi and Owen hadn’t called for help and Jack and Neumann had been nowhere near when their friends had fallen. Did they not care? Did they think that splitting up against Gabriel’s team was a good idea? Or were they just holding defence? He tried to shake himself of the thoughts, the blue team was two down, surely the game was already decided. It was too easy…

_ Too easy _ …

 

* * *

 

“Clear.”

Static rubbed through the comm lines, loud, grating in her ears. Dimly she could hear a muffled yelp and a dog’s whine and then… nothing.

“That sounded creepy as fuck,” she grunted.

“Code?”

“Silence is golden.”

“Neumann,” Jack greeted. “Status?”

“Phase one complete. You’re free to proceed to Phase two.”

“Affirmative, keep the streets clear for me.”

“Roger that.”

They cut off the comm lines with a whirl of static.

 

* * *

 

“Anything?” Gabriel growled as Garza reappeared in the doorway.

“Nothing,” Garza grunted, hefting the machine gun in her arms. “Not even anything to scavenge.” She paused to sigh heavily “At this rate, I won’t have any explosives.”

“Do we  _ really _ need explosives?” Bose asked, shocked. “It’s just Morrison and Neumann!”

“The best lesson is through pain,” Garza replied, waving a finger at Bose - much like a mother teaching a child the ways of the world. “And I intend to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget.”

“Well you aren’t going to teach them anything if we keep standing around,” Gabriel grunted, unholstering his shotguns. “You sure you set the settings of the simulation right?”

“Of course!” Garza snapped, angered that he would even  _ think  _ she would set it wrong.

Gabriel held both his hands up in self-defence, Estrella tucked her head under a wing in apparent shame. “Just making sure,” he grumbled.

“Right.” Bose shuffled uncomfortably between her feet, not at all liking just how close Gabriel had dodged a bullet. Her wolf dæmon had his ears flattened, tail tucked firmly between his legs. “So what now?”

“We double back,” Garza sighed. “I don’t like how quiet those two have been and I want to check in with Martin, maybe do a round and make sure they haven’t snuck behind us and found our flag.”

Bose and Gabriel both nodded acknowledgement but the latter was still uneasy. This had been the tenth house they had scoured on the blue team’s side of the simulation. Not only had they not found the flag, Garza had found nothing worth scavenging. And in Gabriel’s mind, it was setting off  _ a lot _ of alarm bells. It was understandable if the blue team’s flag was difficult to find, but it was downright impossible for the red team to not find anything of worth, not  _ even _ ammunition.

“Do you think they figured out about your ability to craft grenades and are just denying you?” Gabriel asked.

“It’s possible,” Garza replied, deep in thought. “Neumann knew I was a heavy.”

Still doesn’t explain why it seemed the  _ entirety _ of the blue team’s side was stripped bare of any scavenging goods. Quickly, Gabriel bit his tongue. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet.

“What about Yamaguchi and Owen’s bodies?” Bose asked suddenly.

“Are you suggesting we  _ loot _ them?” Gabriel shot back.

The woman looked sheepishly at him, clutching her rifle close to her body. At least her dæmon looked downright guilty and ashamed. “I mean we aren’t finding anything here, so…”

“We might as well give it a try,” Garza sighed “Besides, they aren’t dead. They’re just sleeping from the stun rounds, and it’s commonplace for soldiers to take another’s ammunition and supplies. We might as well do it.”

Adjusting her grip on the machine gun, the woman led the way down the steps and away from the house, Bose and her dæmon following closely. Gabriel brought up the rear with a quick glance around. By his ear, Estrella gave a low hiss. Holstering one of his shotguns, Gabriel brought his hand up to scratch the belly of his owl dæmon, feeling the feathers part under his gloved fingers. He was probably worried over nothing, Jack and Neumann were just newbies anyway - compared to him and Garza. They could handle it,  _ he _ could handle it.

Dropping his hand, he picked up his gun once more and followed to where the other two women were waiting for him. The older woman leaning into her ear as she called on their absent fourth member.

“Martin?” Garza was saying. “You there? Over.”

“Martin here. Over.” Came his voice over the comm, heavy with static - Gabriel winced.

“We’re doubling back to the ‘bodies’ for some scavenging,” Garza told him “Can you give us the fastest route there? Over.”

“Roger that,” Martin’s voice cut off for a moment - probably looking through his scope. “Take the fourth exit down your street then one left and a right. That should put you at Yamaguchi’s body.”

“Understood. Over and out.” To the rest, Garza said “Well then, let’s go.”

Quietly, they eased themselves back onto the street. With Martin giving the all clear, they quickly crossed the road and retraced their footsteps back to where they had left the two recruits lying on the hard, dusty floor. Or more accurately, where they  _ should _ have left them lying.

“What!” Garza exclaimed, Fuerza chuffed in annoyance. “We’re on the right street, their bodies should be right there!”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, he recognised the street as the one they had dispatched the two recruits. Someone had been back recently to move Tadashi’s body, maybe even done the same for Owen. Scratching his chin, he surveyed the street but found it as clean as if no one had been there - or as clean as it could be covered in dust and dirt and dimpled in places.

“Bose,” He grunted. “Can your dæmon scent the place?”

Swiftly, the woman composed herself, wiping the look of pure confusion off her face as she concentrated on her wolf dæmon. The canine lifted his head to the air, mouth hanging slightly open as it took a deep breath to draw the many scents over its glands.

“I smell…” Bose began, eyes scrunched closed. “Us, Yamaguchi and Owen…” She cocked her head as if puzzled “...I smell someone else too.”

“Who is it?” Garza demanded.

“I-I can’t tell.” Bose’s face drew into a frown as her dæmon took another deep breath “Something smells off, it’s like…”

“Like…?” Garza persisted.

It doesn’t make sense, Gabriel thought harshly. Why come back? Why move the bodies? Jack and Neumann were already low on people, why did they even bother? Estrella fluttered in the air, hovering a meter above his head as she surveyed the area. It was strange too, when they had been here earlier, the ground had been pretty smooth, now it looked as it had been roughened over, the dimples in the ground looking as if they…

_ Jack and Neumann’s lack of activity... _

_ The absence of scavenging items... _

_ Tadashi’s missing body... _

_ The dimpled ground that looked as if it had been dug up and recovered... _

_ A squirrel dæmon _ .

“Stop rushing me!” Bose snapped “I’m trying to concentrate so gimme a break!” she took a step forward to the clearly roughened ground.

“WAIT BOSE!” Gabriel yelled, leaping forward.

He dropped one of his shotguns. Gloved fingers closing about Bose’s arm and yanking her back viciously.

Just as the first land mine blew.

The explosion tossed the three of them and their dæmons back. Groaning, Gabriel struggled onto his elbows from where he had landed on his back on the ground, prickles of electricity running through his body from where the buried stun-mine had managed to nick his body. Beside him, Bose was staring at the street - wide eyed in shock, her wolf dæmon was curled up at her side, muzzle buried in his flank as he nursed what looked like a stunned nose.

“The  _ fuck _ was that!?” Garza snarled. She was pushing herself up to her feet, fingers shaking around the machine gun’s handles.

“No idea,” Gabriel grunted, before lurching to his feet. “We need to regroup, think up a new plan. Come on Bose, get up!”

“R-right..” The woman stammered, her legs were shaking as she struggled to her feet. “So, where t--”

She never finished her sentence, the modified sniper bullet connecting hard with her right shoulder before sending a non-lethal wave of electricity through the woman’s body. Bose fell, stunned. Her wolf dæmon had his eyes closed, put to sleep with his human.

“SNIPER!” Garza yelled, her hand curled around Gabriel’s shoulder before jerking him back into the shadow of a crumbling house. Estrella and Fuerza moved after them, darting into cover with their humans.

 

* * *

 

A shrill whistle sounded across the comms, impressed.

“Beautiful shot Neumann.”

“Thanks Owen,” She grunted “I try my best.”

“You know, when you said you were going to give me the signal to start Phase three, I was hoping it was going to be a little less… flashy.” A different voice grumbled.

“Sorry  _ otouto _ ,” Tadashi laughed. “But you know me… I like flashy things.”

“Sure,” Jack grumbled. Packing away his medkit, he slung it across his back with his pulse rifle. Vaeltaja waited patiently for him, pushing the removed shell of a stun round between his paws. “I’m moving out. Good Luck team, no retreat.”

“No surrender.” Their voices chimed in unison.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red Team:  
> Iris Garza, Fuerza (Male honey badger, Force) - Heavy Weapons Specialist  
> Gabriel Reyes, Estrella (Female barn owl, Stars) - Assault/Close-combats Specialist  
> Bose, (Male wolf) - Ranger/Pulse Rifle  
> Martin, (Female German Shepherd) - Sniper
> 
> Blue Team:  
> Tadashi Yamaguchi, Hikari (Female squirrel, Light) - ???  
> Jack Morrison, Vaeltaja (Male Cheetah, Wanderer) - ???  
> Taylor Owen, Havaita (Female bat, To perceive) - ???  
> Samantha Neumann, Streich (Male black mamba, Trick/Mischief) - ???/Gunslinger
> 
> Author's note:  
> If you put the titles of Chapter one and two together (which are the names of Owen and Neumann's daemons), you get 'To perceive a trick/mischief'  
> GG red team.


	3. Red vs. Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extended the chapter limit again because I'm a scrub.  
> I hope everyone likes this new update.

“The  _ fuck _ was that,” Garza repeated for the fifth time.

She and Gabriel were hunched in the shadows of an abandoned shop, from his position Gabriel could still see Bose’s sleeping body lying out in the open, the modified stun bullet still poking out of her right shoulder. Estrella silently flapped her wings, lifting herself to get a better look at the wound.

“We need to go,” Gabriel growled “We stay here and they’ll be onto us.”

“And where do you  _ suggest _ we go?” Garza snapped “Without Martin and Bose, we’re at a disadvantage.”

So Garza had caught on as well, Gabriel thought. Good, it would save him the trouble of explaining. It hadn’t taken a lot of brainstorming to come to the conclusion that someone had incapacitated Martin. When? He wasn’t so sure, but their sniper  _ should _ have warned them of the bodies and if anyone had been by recently. The fact that he didn’t do either was a troubling thought. How far behind their lines was the blue team? How did they even get that far back, and how long have they been there?

All questions he could leave for another time, right now he had other problems to deal with. The blue team had  an  _ engineer _ . He should have known, why else would the blue team willingly sacrifice two of their own if not to set up a trap? Gabriel had a sneaking suspicion as to who the engineer might be but he needed proof and anyway what he  _desperately_ needed was a plan to put the red team back into the game.

“We can go round back, stick up against the walls and use the shadows until we enter the underpass north of here,” Gabriel started “Their sniper fired from somewhere in the South West, most likely Neumann. She’s the only one on their side who can do that kind of shot.”

Garza grunted but did not question his deduction, they didn’t have time. “I’ll go deal with her then--”

“No,” Gabriel interrupted “You need to go back behind our lines, find out what happened to Martin, maybe even check up on our flag.”

“You’re not expecting me to let you fight that snake-woman alone are you?” Garza snapped, concern entering her voice. Fuerza sunk clawed talons into the earth, chuffing his own worries.

To fight someone with a snake dæmon was always a bad idea. Although a dæmon could never directly interact with a human (because it was a taboo), they could still very well strike at other dæmons. Most snakes possessed venom of some kind and Neumann’s black mamba had lethal amounts of it. Even though the woman wouldn’t kill because it was a training match, she could still doll out enough to put someone on the floor - alive, but rendered useless. Swallowing down the uncomfortable idea of getting bitten by a snake, Gabriel turned to fix Garza with his best no-nonsense glare.

“I can move faster than you can,” Gabriel growled “Seeing as we still don't know _why_ they moved the bodies or where Morrison is, we  need to split up and reinforce our defence. Look Garza, they  knew we would go back down that street, Martin  _ led _ us there. That means they can see us and they’ll happily have us chasing our own tails unless  _ we _ do something about it." Taking a deep breath, he tried to compose himself before continuing "Go back to our side, maybe scavenge some supplies - there’s no way they could have taken most of ours if their side is clean. Get some grenades going and  _ take them out _ !” He hissed the last through gritted teeth - he wasn’t going to go down to a number of  _ recruits _ !

Garza sighed, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “There’s no arguing with you when you get into that kind of mood, is there Gabi?’

“No.”

“Fine, I’ll head back and find Martin,” Garza relented “Don’t ‘die’ to Neumann and keep an eye out for mines. From the amount they’ve scavenged, I would say they have  _ quite _ a few explosives.”

“Understood,” Gabriel huffed. “Don’t you ‘die’ as well.”

With that he, slinked to the back of the shop before fading out the back door, Estrella following him - a silent shadow.

 

* * *

 

“Do you think they’ve caught onto us?” Neumann asked through the comms.

“If they haven't, they will soon enough.” Tadashi’s voice was a matter-of-fact. There was a wild grating sound from his end of the line, lots of shuffling, shifting of fabric and clinking of metal.

“You know you aren’t exactly inspiring confidence,” Owen cut in, toying with the end of a wire in his hand. He was sat beside Martin’s unconscious body and his dog dæmon, the man’s sniper rifle in his hands as he looked down the scope - still nothing.

“Tadashi, inspiring confidence?” Jack’s voice was incredulous “Now that’s a first.”

“I’ll get you back later  _ otouto _ .”

Owen rolled his eyes. From the first day he had met the two, they had acted like brothers brought up in the same house. He knew that Tadashi and Jack had gone through some serious shit together, he didn’t have to look at their files to know. Havaita had done a ‘body check up’ of the two the first time that they had all sat down for a proper conversation - right before SEP started. Using sound, the bat dæmon had mapped their bodies and patched together  _ quite _ the image. Both men were covered in scars under their clothes, hard muscles and stretched skin that reflected sound like a taunt drum. Only extensive training and time spent on the battlefield would produce bodies with such sounds. And since he overheard Bose and Reyes complaining about the lack of information in their files, Owen could hazard a guess which branch of the US military one, if not both had originated from.

“Yeah so, anyway… Please tell me you’ve found something,” Owen grumbled “My back is starting to kill me.”

There sounded like an indignant gasp from Neumann’s side “Your back is killing you?” She gasped “Now I would hate for that to happen! It’s not like  _ I’ve _ been  _ lying _ here ever since this  _ match started _ , keeping an eye out for  _ all of you _ !”

“Gurl! At least you weren’t  _ shot _ !” Owen retorted. Havaita chirped in agreement from where she was hung upside down on the windowsill. They could still feel the stun rounds that Garza had so eagerly plunged into their backs. Jack had done what he could, removing the pellets and administering medi-gel to chase away the pain after waking them up, but the sharp feeling of getting electrocuted wasn’t something he wanted to feel again any time soon.

“Enough, both of you,” Tadashi ordered “Reyes and Garza are still alive and I won’t put it past them to do something crazy. Keep your eyes peeled.”

“Yessir,” Neumann called from her end.

Owen grunted affirmation as well. Cutting off the comm, he lifted his gaze away from the sniper scope, bringing a hand up to rub tiredly at his eyes - nearly pushing his spectacles off. Re-adjusting the eyepiece, he laid back down on the hard ground, flexing his fingers around the grips of the weapon.

He was on the fourth floor of a building deep in red team territory. Originally, this had been Martin’s sniper perch and Owen could see why the man had chosen this spot. From here he could see the sprawling expanse of the simulation, he could even  _ see _ the building where Neumann was hiding. Truly, it was a pity that she had spotted him first. Chancing a brief sideways glance at the unconscious body propped up against the wall, Owen actually  _ really _ didn’t envy the man one bit.

After Garza’s team had taken out him and Tadashi, Neumann had given Martin’s position to Jack, who was at the time, deep behind enemy lines. Owen didn’t know how the blond had gotten so deep and he wasn’t about to ask. What he  _ did _ know was that Jack had taken out Martin with some kind of sleeping drug, effectively eliminating the man from the game before coming to revive him and Tadashi.

After that, it had been a matter of Owen adopting Martin’s perch, using his  _ completely legal _ voice modifier, and then leading all of red team into a trap. He turned the device over in his hand, the piece had been given to him as a joke by his own sister. She had always known that he was one for pranks, no matter the time or place. Basic training had proved a very entertaining time, especially with the voice modifier - no one would accuse  _ him _ if one of the ‘higher-ups’ said he was innocent. So it came as quite a shock when _Tadashi_ had requested he bring the piece in.

_ Trust that guy to have everything figured out _ , Owen sighed. He supposed it was fair, they  _ were _ going up against soldiers with more experience than them.

Havaita chirped, ears suddenly pricking in alarm. Owen twisted quickly, fingers curling around the weapon and pulling the trigger without hesitation. There was a muffled curse from the corridor where the stun bullet had travelled through the room, out the door and plunged itself. Dropping the sniper, he rolled for his rifle, Havaita following with quickening chirps. One person outside, he heard metal, the sound of breath rasping in the narrow corridor, a loud chuffing and the distinct clattering of claws against the floor. Garza.

_ Shit _ ,  _ just how had she gotten so close?  _ He flicked his comm on.

“Blue team!” He yelled into the earpiece “I’ve been compromised!”

Static greeted his words. Snarling a curse, he backed himself against the wall beside the door, at the same time checking the safety of his weapon and testing the weight of the gun. Havaita fell silent, ears pricked in anticipation. They already knew someone was outside the door, they didn’t need to give themselves away any more than necessary. Owen held his breath, quietly counting the seconds in his head. If Garza was here, that means she was back to check on Martin.  _ But she shouldn’t have been able to get this close! _ Another part of his mind argued - Tadashi was  _ supposed _ to be downstairs and holding things down with those mines of his! And why wasn’t anyone answering his comms--

The door crashed inwards, knocked aside by a boot. Owen swung his rifle up, ready to fire. He wasn’t the best shot on the base, not by a long shot, but he wasn’t going to miss at this range. Too late did he hear the distinct click of a ring being pulled from a grenade.

The flashbang crashed into the room, sending blinding white light coursing through every hole and crack in the small space. Owen’s eyes were scrunched tight, Havaita buried in the neckline of his shirt as she tried to hide her eyes and  _ Holy Hell _ her ears! The sound was a high-pitched shriek in his ears, in Havaita’s it was  _ painful _ . He would rather suffer another round of stun bullets to his body.

He had his wish.

 

* * *

 

Neumann furrowed her brow as she looked down her scope.

“Look’s like he's permanently out of the game,” she commented quietly.

“I don’t like iiiiiiit,” Streich hissed from his place curled up around her leg.

The brunette nodded in agreement. Owen had been terribly quiet for someone who had obviously rushed to deal with the intruder if what she saw in her scope was right. She had watched as her dark skinned teammate had suddenly twisted in his place, firing his sniper rifle into the building before diving for his prefered assault rifle. The flashbang that came next was genius, the hail of stun rounds to Owen’s chest? Brutal. She shook her head as she removed the weapon from her eye, Streich uncurled himself, winding down towards the grimy floor, scaly skin facing no resistance. He flicked his forked tongue out once, twice.

There had been a sour scent in the air for the past five minutes. She could reach for her comms, give a warning, ask for help… But she had a sneaking suspicion that all she would be getting was static. Instead, she swung the rifle across her back before unholstering the IMI Desert Eagle from her belt. The semi-automatic handgun was a comforting weight in her hand. Flicking off the safety, she held it up and close as she edged back along the rooftop. After firing the shot that had taken out Bose, she had shifted positions, moving two rooftops across from her original perch. Unlike Owen, Neumann was more distrustful, more cautious. She didn’t like the odds of someone spotting her or at least figuring out where she had fired the shot.

But of course, it didn’t seem to have deterred her pursuer. Streich stretched forward, his thin body arranged across the rooftop, so as to better feel the vibrations around him. Still nothing. Carefully, Neumann crept along the sides of the building, at her feet Streich slithered forward, tongue still eagerly scenting the air.

The screech seem to come from nowhere.

Neumann swung her handgun up just as the thick form crashed through the rooftop’s only entrance, a great shotgun was pushed right into her chest. He didn’t fire - Neumann’s handgun buried in his shoulder, slender fingers curled around the trigger.

“Reyes,” Neumann growled.

“Smart move rookie, changing roofs after a shot.” He praised.

“Thanks.”

Reyes smirked down at her and Neumann glared back. She knew she had lost the moment he came through the door. Not a meter away and Estrella had Streich pinned against the floor, a black ivory claw placed right between the snake’s eyes. The serpent dæmon struggled viciously, but the owl refused to be thrown off. The bird hissed deeply and Streich replied by slapping his whip-like tail across Estrella’s back - the bird didn’t budge.

“What's your play?” Reyes asked.

“You came up here just to question me?” Neumann retorted.

“To take you out too.” The Captain shrugged. “Don’t underestimate threatening someone Neumann, some people are willing to talk to save their skin.”

“Too bad for you I’m not one of them,” she muttered.

“Didn’t think you were.” He pulled the trigger.

 

* * *

 

Gabriel watched as Neumann fell backwards, her dæmon going limp in Estrella’s claws. Once the owl was satisfied the serpent wasn’t going to wake, she fluttered up to take her usual perch on her human’s shoulder. Gently, Gabriel ran his free hand through his dæmon’s belly feathers. He had had his doubts as to whether he could sneak up on someone so high on alert but apparently Neumann still hadn’t learned about the effectiveness of camouflage.

While Estrella had flattened herself against the dappled and crumbling walls of the roofs, her mottled feathers allowing her to blend in seamlessly with the surroundings, Gabriel had taken to camping out behind the only entrance onto the roof - a flimsy door. Sure enough, he had watched the rookie easily leap across the roofs and adopt this one as her new sniper perch. Gabriel had waited with bated breath as the serpent had finally come within striking distance of the owl. It was then that Estrella had dropped her facade and struck the other dæmon, going straight for his head.

With deft hands, Gabriel reloaded his only shotgun, the other having been lost in the explosion of the land mine. He had eight rounds left, not nearly as much as he would like, but enough - provided he didn’t miss.

A whirl of static in his ear alerted him to his teammate before her voice burst through the comms “Gabi?”

“Reading you loud and clear, Garza.” He said, leaning into the earpiece. “Neumann’s down, she was the sniper.”

“ _ Damn _ , good job.” She sighed. “You were right.”

“About what?” Gabriel asked.

“Martin,” Garza growled “Owen was camping out where Martin was supposed to be."

“Wait hold on. Owen!?"

"Yeah, the rookie had a voice modifier.” There was a pause. “You know Gabi...I’m pretty sure this stuff isn’t allowed on the base.”

“It isn’t.”

“Uh-huh, guess we’ll have to think up some disciplinary action after the match is over…” she trailed off.

“Garza?” Gabriel asked, concerned.

"This is more problematic than I thought."

"No shit." Gabriel chuckled.

"So it looks like other than an engineer, they have a medic too." Garza ventured.

"Makes sense." And with _this_ , he had all the proof he needed. 

“Something else is off.” The woman continued. “I heard Owen call for help but it doesn’t seem like anyone replied. I figured that at least Morrison would be close by and - if they have a medic - Yamaguchi too.”

Gabriel furrowed his brow, by his ear Estrella puffed out her feathers in discomfort. “I overheard Neumann, she definitely saw what you did but she didn’t try to let the others know. Her dæmon said something about ‘not liking’  _ it _ .”

“Any idea what ‘ _ it _ ’ is?”

He pinched his chin as he thought long and hard. So Owen had tried to call for help but no one replied, as the red team weren’t jamming the signals so that meant that either the blue team  _ hadn’t _ heard him or didn’t  _ want _ to reply. Which if one thought about it, it wouldn’t make sense. It was three (or four, honestly when a medic gets factored in, who knows how many players are active!?) against two, why throw away the player advantage? Was there some other motive?

“Garza...”

“Yeah?”

“Where are you now?”

“Huh? I’m in the same building as where I found Martin’s ‘body.” She replied, confused.

“I mean  _ where _ ? Dammit Garza, I need to know!”

“Alright, alright,” she huffed. “Second story, making my way down on the stairs.”

“Get out of there.”

“What?”

“Just get out! Garza I swea--”

Even from this distance, Gabriel could hear the boom. He rushed to the edge of the roof, grabbing Neumann’s neglected sniper rifle and bringing the scope to his eye.

“Garza! Dammit Garza, come in!” He yelled into the comm.

Quickly, he scanned the building where he remembered Martin had set up shop. Through the second story window, he could see a body lying motionless on the steps.  _Dammit_.

 

* * *

 

“You didn’t have to do that Tadashi,” Jack growled, beside him Vaeltaja lashed his tail in undisguised fury.

“Do what?” His voice was unconcerned over the comms, a man who was seeing victory on the horizon.

“Shut off Owen and Neumann’s comms!” Jack snapped “You could’ve stopped Garza before she got to Owen!”

“And what would that teach the rookie? Besides, she’s been taken care of and Reyes still doesn't know where I am.”

Jack muttered under his breath. Sometimes, he just wanted to grab Tadashi by the neck and shake him  _ very _ hard. Sure, it was in Tadashi's line of work but doing this in a training match wasn’t going to inspire confidence for future missions - not to mention _he_ shouldn't have to put up with it. For a moment, Jack wondered if he should say as much to the man--

Abruptly, Vaeltaja stretched his black button nose to the air, mouth hanging slightly ajar to draw the scents over the roof of his mouth. The smell was stale but he would recognise it anywhere, Gabriel had been here earlier.

“Tadashi.”

“You found it?”

“Yeah…I think.” Jack stepped cautiously down the street, pulse rifle held in steady hands. They were on the right path, the image of a footprint branded into the dusty ground confirming his suspicions. 

“No ‘I think’s _otouto_ ,” Tadashi ordered “Find the flag and end it. I’ll buy you time.”

“Roger.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever written a f*cking betrayal? Makes one feel really bad tbh.

**Author's Note:**

> Just as a little teaser for chapter 2.  
> Samantha Neumann was a character I had from xcom2. For those of you who have played the game, you probably know gunslingers aren't just trained in pistol marksmanship (then again, it's not even their real profession).


End file.
